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Welcome to our World of Warcraft: Legion class preview series. In this entry, we’re exploring the Death Knight—to find out what’s in store for a different class, check out the overview.

We continue our early look at class and specialization design with the Death Knight. In these blogs, we’ll be exploring class identity, discussing Legion’s new designs, and presenting core combat abilities for each specialization—laying out the foundation upon which talents and Artifacts will build further. With that in mind, let’s delve into what it means to be a Death Knight in World of Warcraft.

The first new class introduced to World of Warcraft after its launch, Death Knights came into the fray with an identity unmistakably tied to the Wrath of the Lich King story. The Death Knights of Acherus, their cold bodies lifted from the grave in the Scarlet Enclave, were commanded by the Lich King and Highlord Darion Mograine to slaughter every villager in Tyr’s Hand, New Avalon, and Havenshire, and to sack Light’s Hope Chapel, decimating both the Scarlet Crusade and the Argent Dawn.

Ultimately, as a result of such uncompromising ambition, the Lich King was betrayed by Highlord Mograine in an act that freed the Death Knights from their servitude. Under Mograine’s leadership they formed the Knights of the Ebon Blade and began joining the ranks of the Horde and Alliance forces bound for Icecrown Citadel to end the reign of Arthas, the Lich King. Though now free from the Lich King’s grasp, these once virtuous champions remain knights of darkness, wielding runeblades of death and destruction and mercilessly stealing the very life essence of their enemies.

We always want to reflect the Death Knight origin story and identity in how they play. The biggest area where we see room for improvement is in their resource system. Runes are a very iconic resource, but their functionality has always been convoluted. In Legion, we’re making Runes more straightforward by removing their division into separate Blood, Frost, and Unholy types. Death Knights now have six unified Runes to spend, with a maximum of three recharging at any one time.

With this change, it’s also important that we preserve the existing gameplay familiarity of Death Knights by making mostly minor changes to core ability functionality and cost—we don’t want the Rune change to create a situation where the best Frost rotation is just Obliterate, Obliterate, Obliterate. Finally, we’re reducing ability overlap between specializations, giving each a single disease with a unique trait and creating a talent tree that’s largely populated with spec-specific talents to better distinguish them.

Blood
In undeath, some death knights find a special affinity for the blood and bone of the living. They carve into their enemies, sustaining themselves with deadly sanguine strikes, while using the bloody, shattered remains of the dead to fortify their own defenses. These crimson-soaked knights bend the very rules of mortality to control the frontlines of the battlefield.

“These crimson-soaked knights bend the very rules of mortality to control the frontlines of the battlefield”

Gameplay
The core abilities for Blood should be familiar, though we’ve touched them up to bring added clarity to the specialization. Each core ability now better leverages that sinister command of blood and bone to fuel your survivability. In particular, we’ve changed Death Strike to cost Runic Power instead of Runes. This results in a more clear choice of resource expenditure; you can’t lock yourself out of being able to heal if you spend a Rune at the wrong time, and also gives Runic Power generation a bigger impact.

Instead of Rune Tap, we’re positioning Bone Shield to be the primary complement to Death Strike for active defenses to better tie into the fantasy and provide more flexibility. Marrowrend is a new attack which allows you to rotationally generate Bone Shields. To provide gameplay contention between Runes of a single type, Blood Strike now generates additional Runic Power on top of the standard amount gained for spending a Rune.

Here’s a basic look at the core defensive and offensive combat abilities for Blood Death Knights:

Surrounds you with a barrier of whirling bones that reduces all damage you take by 25%. Each damaging attack consumes a charge. Lasts for 30 sec or until all charges are consumed.

Death Strike

40 Runic Power, Melee Range, Instant

Focuses dark power into a strike that deals strong Physical damage and heals you for 50% of all damage taken in the last 6 sec (minimum 7% of maximum health).

If you are below 35% health when this is cast, all Runic Power is consumed, increasing the potency of the healing effect.

Mastery: Blood Shield

Each time you heal yourself with Death Strike, you gain 40% (with Mastery from typical gear) of the base amount healed as a Physical damage absorption shield.

Also increases your Attack Power by 20% (with Mastery from typical gear).

Death and Decay

1 Rune, 30 yd range, Instant, 30 sec cooldown

Corrupts the ground targeted by the Death Knight, causing moderate Shadow damage over 10 sec to targets within the area. While you remain within the targeted area, your Blood Strike will hit all nearby enemies.

Crimson Scourge

Passive

Your successful autoattacks on targets infected with your Blood Plague have a 25% chance to reset the cooldown on Death and Decay.

To give you an idea of how some talents may build upon this core rotation, here’s an example of a Blood-specific talent:

Bonestorm

15 Runic Power per sec, Instant, 1 min cooldown

A whirl of bone and gore batters nearby enemies 3 times per second to deal minor Shadow damage, healing you for 1% of your maximum health per strike.

Frost
Combining martial prowess with supernatural cold, frost death knights leave their enemies chilled to the bone—and broken of the will to fight. Unlike mages who learn to harness frost magic to great effect, these death knights are born of it, rime gripping their decaying hearts. These frozen undead warriors wield dual blades to strike with ferocity and inflict deathly cold upon anyone who would stand against them.

“These death knights are born of frost magic, rime gripping their decaying hearts”

Gameplay
The mechanics of the Frost Death Knight are quite solid and we don’t want to do too much to change that. You’ll notice that the core combat abilities listed below are largely familiar. One small area where we found room for improvement, however, is in Killing Machine’s passive interaction with the core rotation. While the automatic critical strikes it provides feel good, it’s often better to ignore its proc in favor of spending resources as fast as you can, as your damage output suffers if you wait for the different resources required for using Obliterate and Frost Strike to become available. Killing Machine now only affects Obliterate, and making wise use of its effect should feel more meaningful.

Here’s a basic look at the core combat abilities for Frost Death Knights:

Howling Blast

1 Rune, 30 yd range, Instant

Blast a target with a frigid wind, dealing minor Frost damage to that target, and minor Frost damage to all other enemies within 10 yds, infecting all targets with Frost Fever

Frost Fever

A disease that deals minor Frost damage and has a chance to grant the Death Knight 5 Runic Power every 3 sec for 30sec.

To give you an idea of how some talents may build upon this core rotation, here’s an example of a Frost-specific talent:

Glacial Advance

1 Rune, Instant, 12 sec cooldown

Summon glacial spikes from the ground that advance forward, each dealing moderate Frost damage to enemies near their eruption point.

Unholy
While free from the Lich King’s grasp, some death knights still embody the ever-corrupting nature of the Scourge plague that once threatened to consume Azeroth. No matter their allegiance or cause, they remain defilers of life; and nowhere is their callousness more on display than when threatened. Inflictors of the most aggressive of diseases—and masters of raising unhallowed minions from the ground—these unholy death knights are vicious melee combatants, capable of striking with the force of an undead legion and unleashing pestilence that would bring their foes to ruin.

“Unholy death knights are vicious melee combatants, capable of unleashing pestilence that would bring their foes to ruin”

Gameplay
Unholy is receiving slightly more mechanical changes than Blood and Frost, to better realign with their unique identity. We want to ensure that Unholy continues to be the spec with the most active use of diseases. In this regard, we recognize that Festering Strike lost its luster over time and have developed a new mechanic to ensure the ability remains integral in the Unholy rotation.

Here’s a basic look at the core combat abilities for Unholy Death Knights:

Outbreak

1 Rune, 30 yd range, Instant, 6 sec cooldown

Deals minor Shadow damage and surrounds the target in a miasma lasting for 6 sec that causes the target and all nearby enemies to be infected with Virulent Plague

A pustule-ridden lesion that may be burst by Scourge Strike, dealing moderate Shadow damage and generating 3 Runic Power.

Scourge Strike

1 Rune, Melee Range, Instant

An unholy strike that deals strong Physical damage and strong Shadow damage. Triggers a single stack of Festering Wound, if it is present on the target.

Death Coil

30 Runic Power, 40 yd range, Instant

Fires a blast of unholy energy at the target, causing strong Shadow damage to an enemy, and restoring 10 Energy to your Ghoul.

Sudden Doom

Passive

Your autoattacks have a chance to make your next Death Coil cost no Runic Power.

Dark Transformation

Instant, 1 min cooldown

Transform your Ghoul into a powerful undead monstrosity for 20 sec. The Ghoul’s abilities are empowered and take on new functions while the transformation is active.

Death and Decay

1 Rune, 30 yd range, Instant, 30 sec cooldown

Corrupts the ground targeted by the Death Knight, causing moderate Shadow damage over 10 sec to targets within the area. While you remain within the targeted area, your Scourge Strike will hit all nearby enemies.

Welcome to our World of Warcraft: Legion class preview series. In this entry, we’re exploring the Shaman—to find out what’s in store for a different class, check out the overview.

We continue our early look at class and specialization design with the Shaman. In these blogs, we’ll be exploring class identity, discussing Legion’s new designs, and presenting core combat abilities for each specialization—laying out the foundation upon which talents and Artifacts will build further. With that in mind, let’s delve into what it means to be a Shaman in World of Warcraft.

For millennia, since the primitive tribal cultures of Azeroth and Draenor, the natural elements of the physical universe have been celebrated, feared, and even worshipped. Mystics sought communion with the earth, air, fire, and water, and learned to tap into their raw power. In time, these spiritual guides came to understand that nature’s elemental forces aren’t wholly benevolent, but have, in fact, been locked in an unending conflict of chaos and primal fury that once consumed the physical realm. So began the calling of the Shaman, to bring balance to these volatile energies, leveraging their intensity to mend wounds . . . or inflict them.

The use of totems is integral to the Shaman archetype, and we’re addressing some persistent issues with their mechanics. For a long time there have been significant constraints associated with totems, like the fact that they can only be dropped at the Shaman’s feet, or that they only have 5 health, or that no more than one of the same elemental type can be active at one time. While these constraints were intended to ensure that totems felt unique, they ultimately drove us to creating strange tools to allow the Shaman to bypass such constraints, such as Totemic Projection or Totemic Persistence. In Legion, we’re eliminating this awkwardness and simply removing the constraints.

Totems of the same nature type can now be summoned together, allowing you to have Healing Stream Totem and Healing Tide Totem up at the same time. Elementals are no longer tied to totems, but are guardians that follow and assist you. Totems’ maximum health will always equal a percentage of your maximum health. In addition, totems that need to be placed at a specific location will be directly placed using a targeting reticle. If you want to place Earthgrab Totem in the middle of a big pack of nasty orcs, you can do that without having to run into that nastiness or use a separate spell to throw the totem there. In general, totem mechanics are concentrated around temporary effects (either beneficial or hostile) in a localized area, as opposed to “maintenance buff” cooldowns you need to make sure are up at all times.

Finally, we’re bringing needed clarity to Shaman resources, particularly to move away from disguising a couple key resources as buffs. Lightning Shield charges for Elemental Shaman, Maelstrom Weapon charges for Enhancement Shaman, and Mana have all been replaced for Elemental and Enhancement with a new resource: Maelstrom. Mana is a fitting Restoration Shaman resource and will remain for that spec.

Elemental
Certain shaman have dedicated themselves above all else to forging a deep bond with the elements. They have peered beyond the Elemental Plane, gleaning visions of an ancient past where manifestations of volatile energies once raged unimpeded across primordial Azeroth. Through careful study and dedication, the elemental shaman is able to channel such power into destructive magical surges. Through the body of the shaman flows bolts of lightning, as if from storm, and bursts of fire, as if from molten earth. They manipulate the land itself and summon spirits of earth, fire, and storm to their aid. To battle an elemental shaman is to taunt the very forces of nature.

“Through the body of the shaman flows bolts of lightning, as if from storm, and bursts of fire, as if from molten earth”

Gameplay
Elemental Shaman already have a strong, thematic ability repertoire. We’re retaining much of that existing gameplay in Legion, while smoothing the rough edges. The previously mentioned switch to Maelstrom as a resource is most significant. Elemental Shaman will build Maelstrom through their Lightning Bolt, Lava Burst, and Chain Lightning, and spend it on abilities like Shocks and Earthquake. This change also allows us to remove the cooldown on Shocks, since they instead compete for resources. Shock usage is now more flexible for Elemental Shaman, such as using more of their Maelstrom on Flame Shock to DoT multiple targets. Another notable change is the return of Elemental Overload as their Mastery; Molten Earth never lived up to our hopes, being too non-interactive and confusing.

To give you an idea of the Elemental Shaman in action, here’s a basic look at their core combat abilities:

Lightning Bolt

40 yd range, 2 sec cast

Fires a bolt of lightning at the target, dealing moderate Nature damage, and generating 15 Maelstrom.

Your Flame Shock damage over time has a chance to reset the cooldown of Lava Burst and cause your next Lava Burst to be instant.

Mastery: Elemental Overload

Grants a 40% (with Mastery from typical gear) chance for Elemental Overload to occur. Elemental Overload causes a Lightning Bolt, Chain lightning, or Lava Burst spell you cast to trigger a second, similar spell on the same target that causes 75% of normal damage and Maelstrom generation, and no threat.

Additionally, to provide a glimpse at how some talents may build upon this, here’s one example of an Elemental-specific talent:

Maelstrom Totem

40 yd range, Instant, 30 sec cooldown

Summons a Maelstrom Totem near the target for 15 sec that repeatedly attacks an enemy within 30 yards for moderate Nature damage. Every time the Maelstrom Totem attacks, it will generate 5 Maelstrom for you.

Enhancement
Intense communion with fire, earth, air, and water isn’t exclusive to the elemental shaman. In many ways, enhancement shaman similarly bond with nature and leverage its power on the battlefield. What distinguishes them in their training—and in their connection with the elements—is their combat methodology. These shaman favor empowering their physical attacks with elemental energies and facing their adversaries up close. They don’t shy from the frontlines, wielding magically augmented weapons, potent elemental attacks, and totems that shape the tide of battle.

“These shaman favor empowering their physical attacks with elemental energies and facing their adversaries up close”

Gameplay
The identity of the Enhancement Shaman is cool, but we don’t feel that the mechanics do well to establish that. We want this spec to be more than a melee-range Elemental Shaman, while having a distinct “Battle Mage” feel. Enhancement’s niche focuses on dishing out devastating spells and punishing strikes at melee range to destroy their enemy. Rather than leaving you with a multitude of buttons, many of which are inconsequential, we’re emphasizing empowering your weapons and allies in the fray. Enhancement Shaman become increasingly deadly as they build their power through Maelstrom generation. They must be careful not to let it overflow, while maintaining enough to utilize their most dominant attacks at critical moments.

To give you an idea of the Enhancement Shaman in action, here’s a basic look at their core combat abilities:

Each of your attacks has a 2% chance to cause Stormfury, resetting the cooldown on Stormstrike, and causing your next Stormstrike to cost 50% less Maelstrom and to trigger no cooldown.

Mastery: Enhanced Elements

Increases the chance for Stormfury and Windfury to trigger by 5% (with Mastery from typical gear), and increases all Fire and Nature damage done by 40% (with Mastery from typical gear).

Additionally, to provide a glimpse at how some talents may build upon this, here’s one example of an Enhancement-specific talent:

Sundering

60 Maelstrom, Instant, 20 sec cooldown

Shatter a line of earth before you, causing strong Physical damage and knocking enemies to the side.

Restoration
Some shaman find a serene affinity for the restorative properties of water. These shaman do not necessarily seek the Light or turn to the divine, yet they feel a profound spiritual connection with the source from which all mortal life took root. So strong is their connection with water that the shaman is able to restore life and heal afflictions. They balance this with a command of the other elements, finding harmony in nature and purifying their allies as a tidal surge washes across a sandy shore.

“Restoration shaman feel a profound spiritual connection with the source from which all mortal life took root”

Gameplay
Restoration mechanics are informed well by the themes of the spec, and we want to avoid disrupting what healers already like about it. What has changed has primarily been in terms of tweaking their gameplay in more fun directions. There’s now slightly more emphasis on targeted healing, and slightly less on Chain Heal spam. We’ve also significantly improved their talents, offering more impactful and varied options. Additionally, Restoration gains the most from the removal of totem restrictions.

To give you an idea of the Restoration Shaman in action, here’s a basic look at their core combat abilities:

Healing Wave

2.1% Mana, 40 yd range, 2.5 sec cast

A slow but efficient wave of healing energy that restores a moderate amount of a friendly target’s health.

Healing Surge

4.1% Mana, 40 yd range, 1.5 sec cast

A quick but expensive surge of healing energy that restores a moderate amount of a friendly target’s health.

Chain Heal

5.6% Mana, 40 yd range, 2.5 sec cast

Heals the friendly target for a moderate amount, then jumps to heal the most injured nearby party or raid members. Healing is reduced by 30% after each jump. Heals 4 total targets.

Riptide

1.5% Mana, 40 yd range, Instant, 6 sec cooldown

Restorative waters wash over a friendly target, healing them for a moderate amount and an additional moderate amount over 18 sec.

Healing Rain

4.3% Mana, 40 yd range, 2 sec cast, 10 sec cooldown

Blanket the target area in healing rains, restoring a moderate amount of health to up to 6 allies in the area over 10 sec.

Healing Stream Totem

1.7% Mana, Instant, 30 sec cooldown

Summons a Water Totem at the feet of the Shaman that heals an injured party or raid member within 40 yards for a minor amount every 2 sec. Lasts 15 sec.

Tidal Waves

Passive

When you cast Chain Heal or Riptide, you gain the Tidal Waves effect, which reduces the cast time of your next Healing Wave by 40% or increases the critical effect chance of your next Healing Surge by 40%. Stacks up to 2 times.

Mastery: Deep Healing

Increases the potency of your healing spells by up to 60% (with Mastery from typical gear), based on the current health level of your target (lower health targets are healed for more).

Additionally, to provide a glimpse at how some talents may build upon this, here’s one example of a Restoration-specific talent:

Wellspring

2.4% Mana, 30 yd range, 1.5 sec cast, 12 sec cooldown

Create a surge of water that flows forward, healing all friendly targets in a wide arc in front of you for a strong amount.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this early preview of our approach to class and specialization design in World of Warcraft: Legion. We’ll continue our review tomorrow with a look at Warriors, Monks, and Druids.

Welcome to our World of Warcraft: Legion class preview series. In this entry, we’re exploring the Warrior—to find out what’s in store for a different class, check out the overview.

We continue our early look at class and specialization design with the Warrior. In these blogs, we’ll be exploring class identity, discussing Legion’s new designs, and presenting core combat abilities for each specialization—laying the foundation upon which talents and Artifacts will build further. With that in mind, let’s delve into what it means to be a Warrior in World of Warcraft.

Warriors are the quintessential fearless fighters on the battlefield, and their pure martial prowess inspires courage in allies and despair in enemies. Experts in all manner of melee weaponry and possessing incredible physical strength and skill, Warriors are perfectly suited to serve as frontline combatants and battlefield commanders.

Warriors are thematically informed by our own history, dating back to ancient clashes when close-quarters, shield-and-sword combat was the backbone of battlefield strategy. Warriors in WoW are steeped in this tradition, with each specialization filling distinct niches.
One notable goal we have for Warriors in Legion is to significantly expand their customizability through talents, especially for Arms and Fury. If the below core abilities seem sparse, it’s to leave room for more from talents than ever before. Both specs now have five rows of core throughput talents (mostly different between Arms and Fury, too), with a strong mix of active rotational abilities, passives, procs, cooldowns, and other interesting effects. You’ll find old favorites like Overpower, Heroic Strike, and Opportunity Strikes, returning classics like Avatar, Dragon Roar, and Storm Bolt, along with a host of brand new talents. We look forward to seeing the combinations that you put together.

Arms
Across culture and kingdom, men and women who demonstrate great physical aptitude are transformed into mighty warriors through tests of strength, endurance, and fighting capability. Their friendships are forged not in the classroom, tavern, or workshop, but in the dueling pits and on the arena floor. As a childhood of sparring defines a warrior’s destiny, so too does one’s choice of weapon determine their role on the battlefield. Arms warriors gravitate toward two-handed weapons instinctively. It’s more than a matter of preference—it speaks to the character of the wielder. Arms warriors are patient in a fight, waiting to capitalize on moments when an opponent is left exposed. Two-handed weapons allow them to deliver devastating, overpowering blows, fully exploiting their enemies’ weaknesses.

“Arms warriors are patient in a fight, waiting to capitalize on moments when an opponent is left exposed.”

Gameplay
The defining character traits of Arms Warriors already mesh well with their gameplay, but there’s room for more flavor. In Legion we’ve opened up a wider variety of potential gameplay styles based on your talent choices, as discussed above. We also replaced their Mastery with Colossal Might, which increases the effectiveness of Colossus Smash, playing into their theme more directly. As before, Arms Warrior Rage generation comes from auto-attacks.

Here’s a basic look at the core combat abilities for Arms Warriors:

Mortal Strike

20 Rage, Melee Range, Instant, 6 sec cooldown

A vicious strike that deals strong Physical damage and reduces the effectiveness of healing on the target for 10 sec.

Slam

15 Rage, Melee Range, Instant

Slam an opponent, causing moderate Physical damage.

Colossus Smash

Melee Range, Instant, 45 sec cooldown

Smashes the enemy’s armor, dealing massive Physical damage, and increasing damage you deal to them by 20% for 6 sec.

Execute

10 Rage, Melee Range, Instant

Attempt to finish off a foe, causing strong Physical damage to the target, and consuming up to 30 additional Rage to deal up to massive additional damage. Only usable on enemies that have less than 20% health.

Tactician

Passive

Slam, Whirlwind, and Execute have a 20% chance per target hit to reset the cooldown on Colossus Smash.

Mastery: Colossal Might

Increases the damage of your Colossus Smash by 50%, and causes it to increase damage taken by an additional 50%.

Additionally, to give you an idea of how some talents may build upon this, here’s an example of one of their Arms-specific talents:

Titanic Might

Passive

Increases the duration of Colossus Smash by 200%, but halves its effectiveness.

Fury
On the battlefield and in the arena, the most feared combatants are often the furious berserkers who lust for battle and thirst for blood. Through a lifetime of training and sparring, these merciless warriors have become masters of carnage—often wielding a weapon in each hand to maximize the destruction. Even without the protection of a shield, the fury warrior leaves little opportunity for an opponent to strike without suffering grievous wounds in return—delivered in a whirlwind of blades that dooms anyone its wake. Brute force becomes a breathtaking display when fury warriors relentlessly dive into the fray.

Gameplay
Fury is a thematically grandiose take on the classic warrior archetype, and in Legion we want the gameplay to convey this better. To help deliver on the fantasy of a relentless death-dealer, we’ve bolstered their gameplay around quickly building Rage and then going wild with Rampage. In particular, Enrage is now considerably more powerful, doubling your attack speed (and thus Rage generation, since the majority of Rage is still generated by auto-attacks), along with increasing damage based on Mastery. Similar to Arms, a multitude of talent options will expand your combat abilities in a wide variety of ways.

Additionally, to give you an idea of how some talents may build upon this, here’s an example of one of their Fury-specific talents:

Frenzy

15 Rage, Melee Range, Instant

Furiously slash at the target, dealing moderate Physical damage, and increasing your Haste by 5% for 10 sec. Stacks up to 5 times.

Protection
Like their counterparts, protection warriors are virtually bred for physical dominance, having been raised in the art of close-quarters combat—but their measured approach to battle is what distinguishes them from their comrades-in-arms. They demonstrate an uncanny knack for blade and shield, nullifying an opponent’s advances and creating opportunities for counterattacks. For the protection warrior, being the toughest soldier on the front means nothing if allies are left vulnerable to the enemy’s attack. Stalwart defenders are integral to the success of any military campaign—the protection warrior seeks to be an unbreakable wall.

“For the protection warrior, being the toughest soldier on the front means nothing if allies are left vulnerable to the enemy’s attack.”

Gameplay
Protection gameplay ties strongly to Warrior lore and exemplifies the very foundation of the tank role in the game, so we’re primarily focused on fine-tuning their mechanics. Shield Block and Shield Barrier in particular often created a trap choice for players. We’ve replaced Shield Barrier with a new ability, Ignore Pain, which massively reduces damage taken (up to a cap based on maximum health) and functions as your primary defensive Rage-spender. It doesn’t compete as much with Shield Block, and thus provides you with distinct tools in your arsenal to apply to different situations. In terms of Rage, Protection Warriors now primarily generate Rage through taking damage, supplemented by a baseline Rage income from ability usage. This plays well with Ignore Pain as their primary Rage-spender; it’s most useful when you’re taking a lot of damage, which is also when you’ll have a lot of Rage to use on it.

Here’s a basic look at the core combat abilities for Protection Warriors:

Offensive

Devastate

Melee Range, Instant

A direct strike, dealing moderate Physical damage.

Devastate has a 30% chance to reset the cooldown of Shield Slam.

Revenge

Melee Range, Instant, 9 sec cooldown

Swing in a wide arc, dealing strong damage to all enemies in front of you.

Generates 4 Rage.

Your successful dodges and parries reset the cooldown of Revenge (cannot occur more than once every 3 sec).

Deep Wounds

Passive

Your Devastate and Revenge cause the target to bleed for strong Physical damage over 15 sec.

This effect is cancelled if the target reaches full health.

Thunder Clap

Instant, 6 sec cooldown

Blasts all enemies within 8 yards for moderate damage and reduces their movement speed by 50% for 10 sec.

Shield Slam

Melee Range, Instant, 9 sec cooldown

Slam the target with your shield, causing strong Physical damage.

Generates 6 Rage.

Heroic Strike

30 Rage, Melee Range, Instant

Instantly deals moderate Physical damage.

This ability is not on the global cooldown.

Defensive

Shield Block

10 Rage, Instant, 12 sec recharge, 2 charges

Raise your shield, blocking every melee attack against you for 6 sec. These blocks can be critical blocks.

Shield Slam deals 30% additional damage while Shield Block is active.

Ignore Pain

40 Rage, Instant

Fight through the pain, ignoring 90% of the next massive amount (based on maximum health) of damage you take.

Spell Reflection

Instant, 25 sec cooldown

Raise your shield, reflecting spells cast on you and reducing magical damage taken by 30%. Lasts 5 sec or until a spell is reflected.

Also increases your attack power by 20% (with Mastery from typical gear).

Additionally, to give you an idea of how some talents may build upon this, here’s an example of one of their Protection-specific talents:

Shield Discipline

Passive

Shield Slam extends the duration of Shield Block by 2 sec.

Shield Block increases the damage of Shield Slam by an additional 30%.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this early preview of our approach to Warrior class and specialization design in World of Warcraft: Legion. We’ll continue our series later today with a look at Monks and Druids.

Welcome to our World of Warcraft: Legion class preview series. In this entry, we’re exploring the Monk—to find out what’s in store for a different class, check out the overview.

We continue our early look at class and specialization design with the Monk. In these blogs, we’ll be exploring class identity, discussing Legion’s new designs, and presenting core combat abilities for each specialization—laying out the foundation upon which talents and Artifacts will build further. With that in mind, let’s delve into what it means to be a Monk in World of Warcraft.

Monks were introduced in Mists of Pandaria, and their story is woven directly into the expansion’s rich and vibrant lore. Monks bring a unique martial arts style to any fight, and harness an exotic form of magical energy that’s unfamiliar to those who practice other arcane arts. They seek spiritual balance in life and in combat, and as dangerous as Monks can be on the battlefield, they’re rarely looking to pick a fight without just cause. They view the world through a different lens, finding power through serenity and inner peace—then expressing it through artful combat techniques and powers that mend life. Perhaps most surprisingly, Monks are also adept at producing powerful brews they consume to aid them in battle.

In Legion, we’re focusing on making sure Monk abilities and gameplay better match the class’s vivid backstory. We’re also looking at abilities that already lend themselves well to the Monk’s character, but whose mechanics are in need of polish.

Brewmaster
The brewmaster is a quirky character, though dangerous when underestimated. Brewmasters may seem to struggle with balance as they chug their concoctions in the middle of a fight, but this unpredictable behavior is far from foolhardiness. Most opponents barely have time to process the erratic nature of the brewmaster’s fighting tactics before they find themselves laid low—possibly the result of a keg smash to the head. When an opponent actually manages to land an attack, it’s often unclear how much the brewmaster feels it . . . if at all.

“The brewmaster is a quirky character, though dangerous when underestimated.”

Gameplay
The gameplay for Brewmasters hasn’t quite fit their archetypes to this point. Rather than being the tricky martial artists, staggering around with an evasiveness that frustrates their opponent while being a little squishy when taking an unmitigated blow, Brewmasters have been more focused around large absorption shields and clutch self-healing. Our new design approach is to get more gameplay depth out of their strong, thematic abilities. Instead of Chi as a resource, which had little depth for Brewmasters, we’re switching to charges on Brew abilities that other abilities still interact with.

Here’s a basic look at the core defensive and offensive combat abilities for Brewmaster Monks:

Defensive

Ironskin Brew

Instant, 20 sec recharge, 3 charges

Increases your Stagger amount by an additional 60% for 6 sec.

Shares charges with Purifying Brew.

Purifying Brew

Instant, 20 sec recharge, 3 charges

Instantly purifies all of your staggered damage.

Shares charges with Ironskin Brew.

Gift of the Ox

Passive

When you take damage, you have a chance to summon a Healing Sphere visible only to you. Moving through this Healing Sphere will heal you for 25% of your maximum health.

This chance is increased the lower health you are.

Mastery: Elusive Brawler

Each time you are hit by a melee attack, you gain 20% (with Mastery from typical gear) Dodge, until your next successful Dodge.

Also increases your attack power by 20% (with Mastery from typical gear).

Offensive

Keg Smash

40 Energy, 15 yd range, Instant, 8 sec cooldown

Smash a keg of brew on the target, dealing strong damage to all enemies within 8 yds and reducing their movement speed by 50% for 15 sec.

Reduces the remaining cooldown on your Brews by 4 sec.

Tiger Palm

50 Energy, Melee Range, Instant

Attack with the palm of your hand, dealing minor damage.

Reduces the remaining cooldown on your Brews by 1 sec.

Blackout Strike

Melee Range, Instant, 3 sec cooldown

Thwack the enemy with your weapon, dealing moderate Physical damage.

Shares cooldown with Breath of Fire.

Breath of Fire

Instant, 3 sec cooldown

Targets in front of the caster take minor Fire damage. If affected by Keg Smash, they will also burn for minor Fire damage over 8 sec.

Shares cooldown with Blackout Kick.

Additionally, to give you an idea of how some talents may build upon this, here’s an example of one of their Brewmaster-specific talents:

Elusive Dance

Passive

Purifying Brew also grants up to 15% Dodge for 6 sec, based on the level of Stagger damage purified.

Mistweaver
Mistweavers are unique among those who heal. The energies they channel are mysterious, oftentimes misunderstood by commoners—who rarely travel beyond the borders of their homelands—as some form of folk medicine. But those who weave the mists wield the power of life’s essence, using a mixture of preventative and restorative spells to mend their allies’ wounds. The inner tranquility that guides mistweavers allows them to sustain their healing for long periods of time, and gives them the strength to care for multiple injured allies.

“…those who weave the mists wield the power of life’s essence, using a mixture of preventative and restorative spells to mend their allies’ wounds.”

Gameplay
Our goal with Mistweaver Monks is to accentuate the existing characteristics that define them, and resolve some core gameplay issues. In simple terms, this means we’ve redesigned their abilities so that you can directly use the spells you want rather than having to set up an excessive amount of other abilities first.

The most prominent example of this was Renewing Mist, which served primarily as a setup for Uplift; we’ve reworked Renewing Mist to stand on its own, and replaced Uplift with a couple of new spells: Vivify and Essence Font. In addition, a new passive Soothing Mist mechanic gives Mistweavers a unique healing style with variable efficiency, over which you have more direct control.

We’re also focusing Mistweavers solely on healing, rather than supporting a type of mixed attack-healing gameplay that felt awkward and ultimately didn’t live up to our goals for the spec—it was unintuitive, and chiefly useful as a mana management tool. Lastly, Mistweavers will now use Mana, not Chi, as a resource, since it reduced choices and restricted gameplay in many situations.

Here’s a basic look at the core combat healing abilities for Mistweaver Monks:

Mastery: Gust of Mists

Your targeted heals also cause a gust of healing mists, instantly healing the target for a minor amount (increasing with Mastery from gear).

Soothing Mist

Passive

Your Effuse, Enveloping Mist, and Vivify also trigger Soothing Mist.

After casting these spells, you continue to channel healing mists into the target, healing them for a minor amount every 0.5 sec, until you take any other action.

Developer Comments

Need efficient healing? Cast any heal and let Soothing Mist continue to provide free healing as long as you feel comfortable!

Need high-throughput healing? Cast any heal and move onto the next target in need of healing, without spending time on Soothing Mist.

For Mistweavers, it’s OK to have open global cooldowns between heals—Soothing Mist fills these gaps.

Effuse

1.8% Mana, 40 yd range, 1.5 sec cast

A fast and efficient spell, healing the target for a minor amount.

Enveloping Mist

6.0% Mana, 40 yd range, 2 sec cast

Wrap the target in healing mists, healing them for a huge amount over 6 sec, and increasing healing received from your spells by 30%.

Renewing Mist

3.5% Mana, Instant, 6 sec cooldown

You surround the target with healing mists, restoring a huge amount of health over 20 sec.

If Renewing Mist causes any overhealing, it will travel to the most injured ally within 20 yds.

When Renewing Mist heals, it has a 4% chance to increase the healing of your next Vivify by 50%.

Essence Font

8.0% Mana, 40 yd range, Channeled

Unleash a rapid twirl of healing bolts at up to 6 allies within 25 yds, every 1 sec for 3 sec.

Each bolt heals the target for a moderate amount, plus an additional moderate amount over 8 sec.

Vivify

5.0% Mana, 40 yd range, 1.5 sec cast

Cause a surge of invigorating mists around the target, healing them and their 2 nearest injured allies for a moderate amount.

Additionally, to give you an idea of how some talents may build upon this, here’s an example of one of their Mistweaver-specific talents:

Mistwalk

40 yd range, Instant, 20 sec recharge, 2 charges

Instantly dash to an ally, and heal them for a large amount.

Windwalker
Among monks, none have mastered the martial arts as the windwalkers have, and few across Azeroth can fight with their grace. Windwalkers possess unparalleled physical finesse, and are capable of overwhelming their enemies with a dizzying flurry of punches and kicks. Their skill comes primarily from a lifetime of intense training and discipline, but the power they exhibit is shrouded in more mysticism than meets the untrained eye. The combination of their peak physical conditioning, state of inner calm, and leveraging of mystical chi makes windwalker monks a true force to be reckoned with.

“Windwalkers possess unparalleled physical finesse, and are capable of overwhelming their enemies with a dizzying flurry of punches and kicks.”

Gameplay
Powerful themes fuel the Guardian Druid, but the gameplay falls short of delivering on them. In particular,
Similar to Brewmasters, here we focused on getting more depth out of less complexity. Windwalkers’ new Mastery, Combo Strikes, encourages mixing a variety of abilities, which provides a constant gameplay hook that influences every ability they use and draws inspiration from classic fighting games. In addition, we’ve polished Storm, Earth, and Fire to remove some cumbersome mechanics. Windwalkers still use a combination of Energy and Chi, along with a heavy dose of short cooldowns.

Here’s a basic look at the core combat abilities for Windwalker Monks:

Mastery: Combo Strikes

Your abilities deal 25% (with Mastery from typical gear) more damage when they are not a repeat of the previous ability.

Welcome to our World of Warcraft: Legion class preview series. In this entry, we’re exploring the Druid—to find out what’s in store for a different class, check out the overview.

We continue our early look at class and specialization design with the Druid. In these blogs, we’ll be exploring class identity, discussing Legion’s new designs, and presenting core combat abilities for each specialization—laying out the foundation upon which talents and Artifacts will build further. With that in mind, let’s delve into what it means to be a Druid in World of Warcraft.

Guardians of nature who seek to preserve balance and protect life, Druids have unmatched versatility on the field of battle. This is in part because druidism is much more than a fighting discipline—it’s a way of life steeped in traditions so ancient that even the origin of their kind is preserved largely in mythology passed on through millennia.

Druids harness nature’s raw energy for an incredible breadth of offensive and defensive abilities, as well as to restore life to the wounded. Through communion with nature and the demigod Cenarius, Lord of the Forest, Druids are supernaturally endowed with the gift of shapeshifting, allowing them to take the form of all manner of nature’s creature and access powers as distinct as they are diverse.

Known for hybrid utility and shapeshifting, Druids have four diverse and well-established specializations. In Legion, we’re focusing on empowering Balance gameplay, strengthening the cohesion of Guardian abilities and their fantasy themes, and renewing Druids’ overall trait of shapeshifting between forms to fulfill distinct functions.

Making use of multiple forms for different situations has been difficult for many years, either due to a lack of access to the “off-spec” talents that make your alternate forms feel strong or because the process itself has felt overwhelming and convoluted. To help solve this issue, we’re taking a new route by replacing Heart of the Wild with a full row of Affinity talents, which essentially allow every Druid to choose an off-spec from the remaining three specializations.

Affinities provide two benefits: first, a passive ability that is useful at all times, even to your main role; second, access to multiple key abilities to use in associated shapeshifting forms. To give you a sense for how choosing your Affinity will impact gameplay, regardless of what form you’re in, here’s a look at the passive abilities they grant:

Balance Affinity

Astral Influence: Increases the range of all spells, abilities, and autoattacks by 5 yds.

Feral Affinity

Feline Swiftness: Increases movement speed by 15%.

Guardian Affinity

Thick Hide: Reduces all damage taken by 10%.

Restoration Affinity

Ysera’s Gift: Constantly heals the Druid, or allies when the Druid is at full health.

Unlike Heart of the Wild, Affinities are not temporary buffs. This enhanced access to an off-spec, delivered through a cleaner game mechanic, empowers Druids of any specialization to make interesting situational combat decisions.

Balance
The elements that carve form into the universe are fluid forces of nature. Some beings seek to bend the power of these natural elements to their will. Druids, however, worship the protecting spirits of nature. Long ago, nature’s equilibrium was thrown out of balance, leaving the world vulnerable to catastrophic events, including the first invasion of the Burning Legion.

By leveraging the sacred powers of the moon, the sun, and the stars, balance druids access arcane and nature magics—made more potent still through shapeshifting, when the spellcaster takes the form of the moonkin—to aid in the fight against imbalance that threatens the natural order of all things.

“Balance druids access arcane and nature magics to aid in the fight against imbalance that threatens the natural order of all things”

Gameplay
Balance Druids have had a variety of cyclical rotations over the years. The core design problem in all of these cycles is that they’ve forced players into watching closely for UI cues and casting spells in largely predetermined orders. The Legion design is focused on providing a flexible combat experience, where you can use abilities as you’d like, and each has a specific purpose. The Eclipse Bar has been completely replaced by an Astral Power resource, which is built and spent, and provides a platform for abilities to create interesting, engaging, and powerful effects. Balance gameplay will center on maintaining your DoTs, generating Astral Power with a mixture of Lunar Strike and Solar Wrath, and spending Astral Power on either Starsurge or Starfall.

Here’s a basic look at the core combat abilities for Balance Druids:

Moonfire

45 yd range, Instant

A quick beam of lunar light burns an enemy for minor Arcane damage and then an additional strong Arcane damage over 18 sec.

Usable while in Bear Form.

Sunfire

45 yd range, Instant

A quick beam of solar light burns an enemy for minor Nature damage and then an additional strong Nature damage over 14 sec to the primary target and all enemies within 5 yards.

Lunar Strike

45 yd range, 2.5 sec cast

Call down a strike of lunar energy, causing strong Arcane damage to the target, and minor Arcane damage to all other enemies within 5 yards.

Generates 15 Astral Power.

Solar Wrath

45 yd range, 1.5 sec cast

Hurl a ball of solar energy at the target, dealing moderate Nature damage.

Generates 9 Astral Power.

Starsurge

40 Astral Power, 45 yd range, Instant

Launch a surge of stellar energies at the target, dealing massive Astral damage.

Also grants you Lunar and Solar Empowerments, which increase the damage of your next Lunar Strike or Solar Wrath by 30%, respectively. You can accumulate up to 3 of each Empowerment.

Starfall

60 Astral Power, 45 yd range, Instant

Calls down waves of falling stars that damage enemies at the targeted location. Deals strong Astral damage over 8 sec.

Enemies in your Starfall take 30% additional damage from your Moonfire and Sunfire.

Mastery: Starlight

Increases the damage of Starfall and Starsurge, and the effect of the Empowerments that they grant by an additional 30% (with Mastery from typical gear).

Additionally, to give you an idea of how some talents may build upon this, here’s an example of one of their Balance-specific talents:

Blessing of the Ancients

Instant

Gain a Blessing of the Ancients, activating or swapping between one of the two following beneficial effects:

Blessing of Elune – Increases Astral Power generated by Solar Wrath and Lunar Strike by 50%.

Blessing of An’she – Grants 3 Astral Power every 2 sec.

Feral
Feral druids also seek to curb imbalance in nature. They observe the fantastic intricacies of the physical world and the delicate fabric in which all living creatures are given purpose. Whether on land or in the sea, in a lush jungle or an uncultivated desert, death is part of the cycle which sustains life. Nature is an eternal dance between predator and prey.

As a shapeshifter, the feral druid endlessly pursues a greater understanding of this truth. They seek a visceral connection to the wild, and in combat take the form of a deadly feline predator. Feral druids become ferocious, agile stalkers—ripping, biting, and bleeding their enemies dry. The forces of chaos are tamed by the druid’s primal fury.

Gameplay
Feral Druids have a solid gameplay foundation that complements their fiction. Design changes in Legion are tempered, and we’re paying the most attention to talent options that provide a wider array of combat customization. Making Savage Roar optional in the talent tree in Warlords worked well to open up gameplay opportunities. We’re taking this approach further by flipping it around—Savage Roar is now a talent choice matched against two compelling alternatives that cater to different play styles.

Additionally, to give you an idea of how some talents may build upon this, here’s an example of one of their Feral-specific talents:

Jagged Wounds

Passive

Your Rip, Rake, and Thrash abilities deal the same damage as normal, but in 33% less time.

Guardian
Like their feral brothers and sisters, guardian druids attune themselves to nature through the animal kingdom. They commune with the wild to understand how life perseveres through adversity. They know that the creatures who survive are often those built to best protect themselves and their kin. In this, the guardian druid finds a deep and harmonious value in the steadfast—all the while recognizing that sturdiness requires an aggressive stance when danger comes near.

Taking the form of a great bear, the guardian druid becomes a massive wall of fur, claw, tooth, and rage, aided by the forces of nature, standing between allies and any opposing threats.

“Taking the form of a great bear, the guardian druid becomes a massive wall of fur, claw, tooth, and rage, aided by the forces of nature, standing between allies and any opposing threats”

Gameplay
Powerful themes fuel the Guardian Druid, but the gameplay falls short of delivering on them. In particular, Guardian Druids have had a strong emphasis on avoidance, dodging attacks more than almost any other tank, with abilities accentuating that. However, this doesn’t mesh well with the image of the tough and sturdy bear. We want Guardian Druids to survive through their sheer tenacity, thick hide, massive resilience, and strong regeneration. To this end, we’ve redesigned several parts of the Druid combat ability toolkit to instead focus on those core defensive ideas—health, armor, mitigation, and regeneration—while deemphasizing dodge.

Also increases your attack power by 20% (with Mastery from typical gear).

Additionally, to give you an idea of how some talents may build upon this, here’s an example of one of their Guardian-specific talents:

Rend and Tear

Passive

Your Lacerate bleed now also reduces the target’s damage done to you, and increases damage you do to the target, by 3% per stack.

Restoration
The many gifts provided by nature must sometimes be reciprocated. Restoration druids seek order in the world by tending directly to its many life forms. Friend to flora and fauna alike, restoration druids celebrate birth and growth. Where there is decay, they bring rejuvenation. Where there is abatement, they summon regrowth. Life not only needs protection—it needs nourishment.

To foster this harmony, the restoration druid builds a bond with the things that grow, gaining inspiration from the flower’s bloom, the seed’s sprout, the mushroom’s spores, and the tree’s growth. Like nature, the restoration druid perseveres through patience and persistence, the foundation upon which all life is built and sustained. They use this power to mend wounds and provide persistent remedies that keep their allies from falling.

Gameplay
Restoration Druid themes are clearly defined, and there’s a lot of cohesive flavor to love in how the spec plays. As a result, we’re making minimal changes. Their Mastery had the most room for improvement, having basically become a passive effect. We’ve redesigned it to emphasize layering healing-over-time effects, favoring more engaging gameplay, while also catering to the Restoration themes.

Here’s a basic look at the core combat abilities for Restoration Druids:

Mastery: Harmony

Your healing is increased by 10% for each of your Restoration heal over time effects on the target.

Healing Touch

2% Mana, 40 yd range, 2.5 sec cast

Heals a friendly target for a moderate amount.

Regrowth

3.7% Mana, 40 yd range, 1.5 sec cast

Heals a friendly target for a moderate amount and another minor amount over 12 sec.

Regrowth has a 60% increased chance for a critical effect.

Rejuvenation

1.9% Mana, 40 yd range, Instant

Heals the target for a moderate amount over 15 sec.

Lifebloom

2% Mana, 40 yd range, Instant

Heals the target for a moderate amount over 10 sec. When Lifebloom expires or is dispelled, the target is instantly healed for a moderate amount.

Lifebloom can be active only on one target at a time.

Efflorescence

4.3% Mana, 40 yd range, Instant

Grow a healing blossom at the target location, restoring a moderate amount of health to three injured allies within 10 yards every 2 sec for 30 sec.

Only 1 Efflorescence can be placed at a time.

Swiftmend

1.6% Mana, 40 yd range, Instant, 30 sec cooldown

Instantly heals a friendly target for a large amount.

Wild Growth

7.5% Mana, 40 yd range, 1.5 sec cast, 10 sec cooldown

Heals up to 6 injured allies within 30 yards of the target for a moderate amount over 7 sec.

Healing amount starts high and declines over the duration.

Living Seed

Passive

When you critically heal a target with the direct healing portion of Switmend, Regrowth, or Healing Touch, you plant a Living Seed on the target.

When the target is next attacked, the Living Seed will bloom and heal for 50% of the initial amount healed.

Omen of Clarity

Passive

Your periodic healing from Lifebloom has a 4% chance to cause you to enter a Clearcasting state, causing your next Regrowth to be free.

Additionally, to give you an idea of how some talents may build upon this, here’s an example of one of their Restoration-specific talents:

Flourish

Instant, 1 min cooldown

Extend the duration of all of your heal over time effects on friendly targets within 60 yards by 10 sec.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this early preview of our approach to Druid class and specialization design in World of Warcraft: Legion. We’ll wrap up our series tomorrow with a look at Rogues.